Always
by M2S
Summary: A Gumdrops postep. My short one shot take.


1Disclaimer: Don't Own Them.

A/N: I am having to upload this blind because of problems I am having with the website. I hope the format is OK.

Anyway, a Gumdrops post-ep. One shot ficlet. I'm sure everyone's written about the same things, but here's my little take on it.

She waited on the other side of the window for him. The sheriff's deputy who had been sitting in a chair by the little girl's door had offered it to her. She had finally taken it, a little irked by the small town chivalry. She wasn't sure why it irked her; maybe it was really that she had been waiting for him for a while.

To be fair, he didn't even know she was out there. He thought he had all the time in the world. She had tried not to watch him, but she couldn't help herself. He had cried when the little girl had handed him the picture she had drawn.

She couldn't help thinking of "what if's". What if Nick had listened to her? What if she had convinced him to give up?

Nick had been right. The little girl had been alive, still hanging on when he found her. She had given up from the beginning. Not Nick - his optimism was still going strong, even after everything he had been through. She looked through the window again to see Nick stroking the little girl's hair. He was handing her one of his cards. She hoped that child would keep it the rest of her life. Her heart swelled a little with pride and love for her friend. He was so different from her; he was everything she was not - hopeful, naive even while managing to be steel to the core.

He had scared her when he had gotten so rough with one of the perps. She had been in his shoes before, had even been called on the carpet for being disrespectful in the interrogation room, but she had never gotten physical, and she hadn't expected it from Nick. It worried her. His unflagging hope, no, belief that the girl would be found alive had also frightened her. What would happen to his fragile psyche when they found the girl's body? He had silenced her protests by saying, "You found me." How could she have stopped him? She could only stand by and watch, hoping, silently, that he was right. Knowing that he couldn't be.

And yet, here they were, in a hospital instead of a morgue. All because of a little girl leaving clues that only Nick Stokes would have believed in. It was almost enough to make an unbeliever like Sara hit her knees and pray. Give thanks for Nicky and the fact they had found him. Give thanks that Nicky kept up his work as a CSI.

So she had. She had prayed. It wasn't the fervent prayers of desperation she had prayed silently when he had been buried. She actually thought this prayer out. It had to express her thankfulness perfectly. It had to express to whatever God was listening how she would always be proud to know Nick and count him as a friend. She hadn't been sure she believed anymore, or if she had ever believed. She looked in the window and saw a genuine Nick Stokes smile as he kissed the little girl goodbye. Her heart swelled again, to the point she thought it might burst out of her chest. Yeah, she believed. His goodness was enough to counter all the shit she saw day in and day out.

She was wiping tears from her eyes when he came out of the hospital room. He didn't see her at first. He was talking to the deputy.

"Sara?" he said. She smiled at him. She wondered if her eyes were still teary and red. His eyes were. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I thought you could use the company on the way back, so I sent Greg back in my Denali," she said. She wanted to hug him, or something, but she held back.

"You let Greg drive your Denali?" Nick said, increduously. He knew that fact said a lot about Sara being there with him. He opened his arms and folded her into him. She accepted eagerly, and they stood for a moment in the middle of the hospital aisle, oblivious to all the activity and people around them.

"You were right," she said, simply. She hoped he would catch everything that she meant, but how could he, from three words.

"Aren't you glad?" he said. She chuckled, and they stepped back from the hug, now feeling a bit awkward. "You were right, too," he offered. She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"How?"

"I got too emotionally involved. I let my emotions get ahead of the evidence."

"Aren't you glad?" she said, echoing his sentiments from before. They shared a smile. "You hungry?" she asked, as they started towards the elevators.

"Have you ever know me when I wasn't? Why? Are you going to spring for the In and Out a couple of miles down the interstate?" he kidded.

"Actually, I asked the lady who fixed our muffins the other morning to pack a picnic lunch. I figured we could stop and stretch our legs down the road."

He gave her an appraising look and smiled. When they made it to his truck, he tossed her the keys.

"I know how you love to drive," he said.

They drove in silence for a while. They had settled on an Eagles CD in the stereo, and Sara was sure Nicky had nodded off in the passenger's seat when she was surprised to find his hand on her arm.

"Thanks, Sar," he said. She gave him a smile that was rarely shared and intertwined her fingers with his.

"Always, Nick."

Always.

A/N: Let me know how I did in a review.


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